Application Note
SAMA5D3 Xplained Getting Started
ARM-based Embedded MPU
ED
AIN
XPL
3
5D
MA
SA
Scope
This document explains how to get started quickly with your SAMA5D3 Xplained board.
It provides details on how to connect the SAMA5D3 Xplained board to a computer and
the steps to access the on-board Linux distribution.
Kit Contents
The SAMA5D3 Xplained Kit contains:

One SAMA5D3 Xplained board

One Micro-AB to typeA USB cable

A welcome letter
11270A–ATARM–20-Feb-14
1.
Reference Documents
Table 1-1.
Reference Documents
Information
Document Title
User Manual
Electrical/Mechanical Characteristics
SAMA5D3 Series Datasheet
Ordering Information
SAMA5D3 Xplained User Guide
2.
Power Warning
Warning:
2.1
SAMA5D3 Xplained User Guide
Unlike Arduino Uno boards, the Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained board runs at 3.3V. The maximum voltage
tolerated by the I/O pins is 3.3V. Providing higher voltage levels, e.g., 5V, to an I/O pin may result in damage
to the board.
Electrostatic Warning
Electrostatic
sensitive
device
Warning:
ESD-Sensitive Electronic Equipment!
In the evaluation kit box, the board is packaged in a protective anti-static bag. When in use,
the board must not be subjected to high electrostatic potentials. When not in use, it is
recommended to store the board in the protective bag.
It is strongly recommended to use a grounding strap or similar ESD protective device when handling the board in hostile
ESD environments (e.g., offices with synthetic carpeting). Avoid touching the component pins or any other metallic
element on the board.
2.2
Power Supply Warning
Warning:
Hardware Power Supply Limitation
Using a power adapter greater than 5Vcc (e.g., at 12Vcc from other kits such as Arduino) may
damage the board
Warning:
Hardware Power Budget
Using USB as the main power source (max. 500 mA) is acceptable only with the use of the on-board peripherals and lowpower LCD extension.
When an external peripheral or add-on boards must be powered, it is recommended to use an external power adapter
connected to the J2 DC jack (can provide up to 1.2A on the 3.3V node).
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3.
Introduction
The SAMA5D3 Xplained board is pre-loaded with a Linux-based embedded operating system. The software components
stored in the NANDFlash have been compiled following instructions found on the Linux4SAM website. All related source
code is located on the Linux4SAM github account:

Bootloaders

AT91Bootstrap

U-Boot and associated environment

Linux kernel and associated Device Tree database

Poky distribution root filesystem (from the Yocto project).
The on-board pre-installed Linux distribution can be controlled through the standard Linux console accessible via the
Atmel SAMA5D36 DBGU (standard debug interface (J23)).
An additional USB-CDC console is configured and can be directly accessed using the USB Micro-AB cable included in
the evaluation kit. This is an efficient single-cable solution for easy log-in and fast access to the pre-installed Linux
distribution.
Figure 3-1.
Linux4SAM Website Organization
Main entry point
& link to component pages
AT91Boostrap
Doc
Bin
Sources
Introduction
Demo-Flash Memory map
Requirements
using automated script
Bin
Sources
Linux Kernel
Bin
Doc
Pre-built binaries flashing,
U-boot / barebox
Doc
Boot sequence
Sources
OPEN-SOURCE
PROJECTS
VALUABLE
WEB SITES
Demo Rootfs
Bin
Doc
Bin pkg
Sources
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4.
Powering the Board
Unpack the board, taking care to avoid electrostatic discharge. Connect the USB Micro-AB cable from the connector (J6)
to a free USB port of your PC.
When the board is powered, the blue LED (marked D2) will light up and the default board firmware will start to run.
Figure 4-1.
Device USB Port Used as Supply
USB A Device
And Supply Input
(J6)
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5.
Boot Sequence
Several pieces of software are used to boot a Linux kernel on SAM products:

ROM code

AT91Bootstrap

U-Boot bootloader
The following steps describe the boot sequence of the Linux kernel:
1.
The ROM code checks if a valid application is present in the supported media (Flash, DataFlash, NANDFlash,
SDCARD). If so, the ROM code downloads it into internal SRAM. For details, refer to the AT91Bootstrap section on
Linux4SAM and the sub-chapters “Boot strategies” and “Boot capabilities matrix”.
2.
The AT91Bootstrap manages the hardware configuration and downloads the U-Boot / barebox binary from Flash
to SDRAM / DDRAM. It starts the bootloader (third-level bootloader).
3.
U-Boot is the bootloader in charge of downloading kernel binaries from Flash, the network, an SD card, etc. It then
loads the Device Tree Binary and starts the Linux kernel.
Figure 5-1.
Boot Sequence
ROM CODE
Boot Media
Check if AT91Bootstrap
Linux Kernel
is present on
FLASH Boot Media
Load it from FLASH
to SRAM & Start it
3
Device Tree Binary (DTB)
1
2
U-Boot / barebox
AT91Bootstrap
1
AT91Bootstrap
SRAM
SDRAM/DDRAM, Clock Initialization
Load U-Boot/Barebox from FLASH
to SDRAM/DDRAM & Start it
2
AT91Bootstrap
U-Boot / barebox
Load Kernel Image
SDRAM / DDRAM
Load Device Tree binary (DTB)
from FLASH to SDRAM/DDRAM
& Start it
3
U-Boot / barebox
Device Tree Binaty (DTB)
Linux Kernel
Kernel
Starting Kernel
Uncompressing Linux
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6.
On-board Linux4SAM Demo - Memory Map
Figure 6-1.
NANDFlash Memory Map
Root FS (UBIFS)
0x800000
Linux Kernel
0x200000
Device Tree (DTB)
0x180000
U-Boot Env.
Redundant
0x100000
U-Boot Env.
0x0C0000
U-Boot
0x0400000
AT91Bootstrap
0x000000
NAND FLASH
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7.
Getting Started Pre-requisites
7.1
Hardware
To begin using the Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained kit, the following items are required:

Windows® XP (or later) or a Linux distribution

Micro-AB to TypeA USB Device cable

Atmel SAMA5D3 Xplained board

An optional USB/Serial DBGU port bridge, e.g., FTDI TTL-232R-3V3 USB to TTL serial cable
Figure 7-1.
SAMA5D3 Xplained Board Overview
USB Host Interfaces
USB A Device
And Supply Input
(J6)
ATSAMA5D36
CU
1401
A
XXXXXXXXXX
XX
ARM
GigaBit Ethernet
Blue Led
(Power Indicator)
Ethernet 10/100
SAMA5D3
X PLAINED
System Buttons
Debug Interface (J23)
7.2
Serial Terminal Emulator
To access the Linux console, a serial terminal emulator is required, e.g., HyperTerminal, minicom, PuTTY, picocom,
screen, etc.. The standard serial communication parameters are 115200 8-N-1:
Table 7-1.
Serial Communication Port Parameters
Parameter
Parameter Value
Baud Rate
115200
Data
8 bits
Parity
None
Stop
1 bit
Flow Control
None
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8.
Accessing the Linux Console
The Linux console is accessed through the USB device (also known as “USB gadget”) port of the SAMA5D36 device.
Connect the USB Micro-AB cable from the connector (J6) to a free USB port of your PC and use the USB-CDC interface.
8.1
Linux Users
Once the board is powered up and the connection with the host machine is made, follow the steps below:
1.
Identify the USB connection by monitoring the last lines of the dmesg command. The /dev/ttyACMx number will be
used to configure the serial terminal emulator.
$ dmesg
[..]
[73507.188239] usb 1-1.1.1: new high-speed USB device number 49 using ehci-pci
[73507.281410] usb 1-1.1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0525, idProduct=a4a7
[73507.281418] usb 1-1.1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
SerialNumber=0
[73507.281421] usb 1-1.1.1: Product: Gadget Serial v2.4
[73507.281422] usb 1-1.1.1: Manufacturer: Linux 3.10.0-yocto-standard with
atmel_usba_udc
[73507.287341] cdc_acm 1-1.1.1:2.0: This device cannot do calls on its own. It
is not a modem.
[73507.287377] cdc_acm 1-1.1.1:2.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
The CDC driver is used and you can see that a /dev/ttyACM0 node has been created on your host system.
2.
Run the serial terminal emulator application with the 115200 8-N-1 parameters.
3.
$ picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyACM0
picocom v1.7
port is : /dev/ttyACM0
flowcontrol : none
baudrate is : 115200
parity is : none
databits are : 8
escape is : C-a
local echo is : no
noinit is : no
noreset is : no
nolock is : no
send_cmd is : sz -vv
receive_cmd is : rz -vv
imap is :
omap is :
emap is : crcrlf,delbs,
Terminal ready
Connect to the board with the root login account. No password is required.
4.
Poky (Yocto Project Reference Distro) 1.5.1 SAMA5D3 Xplained /dev/ttyGS0
SAMA5D3 Xplained login: root
root@SAMA5D3 Xplained:~#
You are now ready to go with the on-board Linux system.
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8.2
Windows Users
After the board is powered up and the connection with the host machine is made, the Windows system requests a driver
for the USB-CDC device that corresponds to the SAMA5D3 Xplained board. Then follow the steps below:
1.
Download the official .inf file required to configure the USB-CDC driver: www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/usb/linux-cdc-acm.inf
2.
Make sure that the file is properly saved as an .inf file. Do not use a.txt extension.
3.
Click on the “Start Menu”, and open up the “Control Panel”. In the “Control Panel“ click on “System”. Once the System window is up, open the “Device Manager”.
4.
Look under Other devices. An open port named “Gadget Serial v2.4” should be available.
Figure 8-1.
Device Manager Window
5.
Right-click on the “Gadget Serial V2.4 “ device and choose the “Update Driver Software...” option.
6.
Install the serial driver with “Browse my computer for driver software” option.
7.
Windows may prompt for confirmation to install the driver. If so, accept the installation. The use of the official gadget serial .inf file (see Step 1.) ensures driver software integrity.
8.
After the driver installation process, the system displays the message:“Windows has successfully installed your
driver software”.
9.
On the Windows host system, identify the USB connection that is established: the port should appear in the Windows Device Manager. The COMxx number is used to configure the serial terminal emulator.
Figure 8-2.
Serial Port Installed - Device Manager Window
10. Run a serial terminal emulator application with the parameters specified in Table 7-1 and the COMxx port number.
11. You can now login to the board with the root login account. No password is required.
Poky (Yocto Project Reference Distro) 1.5.1 SAMA5D3 Xplained /dev/ttyGS0
SAMA5D3 Xplained login: root
root@SAMA5D3 Xplained:~#
12. You are now ready to go with the on-board Linux system.
SAMA5D3 Xplained Getting Started [APPLICATION NOTE]
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9.
Revision History
Table 9-1.
Doc. Rev.
11270A
SAMA5D3 Xplained Getting Started Rev. 11270A Revision History
Changes
First Issue.
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